Chinese word

懊悔

Pronunciation

Pinyinào huǐ

Meaning

  • verbregret

Example

我为没有早点告诉你感到懊悔。wǒ wèi méi yǒu záo diǎn gào sù nǐ gǎn dào ào huǐ

I regret not telling you sooner.

Illustration for 懊悔 (regret)

More examples

她懊悔自己的决定。tā ào huǐ zì jǐ de jué dìng

She regretted her own decision.

Core concept

Painful inward replay of one's own past action, with the wish that it had been different and blame directed at oneself.

Common phrases

  • 为...懊悔wèi ào huǐ

    regret ___

  • 懊悔自己的决定ào huǐ zì jǐ de jué dìng

    regret one's own decision

  • 懊悔没把握机会ào huǐ méi bǎ wò jī huì

    regret not seizing the opportunity

Similar words

后悔hòu huǐ: Feel sorry about something done in the past, especially when it is too late to change.
自责zì zé: Judge one's own words or actions as wrong and blame oneself for them.

Definition in Chinese

对自己过去的行为感到悔恨并自责，常包含反复自省和难以释怀的意味。duì zì jǐ guò qù de xíng wéi gǎn dào huǐ hèn bìng zì zé cháng bāo hán fǎn fù zì xǐng hé nán yǐ shì huái de yì wèi

Word origin

懊悔 (àohuǐ, "to feel remorse") uses 懊 (ào, "troubled") + 悔 (huǐ, "regret"), a compound that presents regret as a troubled feeling turned back on the self.

Usage tips

  • It often appears in serious reflection on a decision or omission, making it less natural for a quick reaction to a small inconvenience.

Other meanings

  • remorsenoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word